Sunday, May 24, 2009

There was a day when a print and fold greeting card was not necessary but very much appreciated by the recipient. Then two holes were punched at the top and ribbon was added. Embellishing! In this day and time, with a gazillion craft supplies available along with die cut machines and card kits, a personalized handmade card has no limits. I do own some border punches and a few Coluzzle templates, but I am old-fashioned and still prefer to give handmade versus machine made cards.

I first picked a simple graphic and printed twice, on plain paper and cardstock.

(click to enlarge)

I added a personal greeting on the cardstock copy, tore the edges with a ruler and used a Scor-Pal to score a half-inch horizontal/vertical grid.

I used antique linen Ranger Distress Ink on the raised grid and torn edges. One version is to add a little bling to the flower centers and a bit of glitter pen.

Another version is to add quilled flowers to the card.

One of my favorite techniques is to make puffy paper flowers. I cut out the three flowers from the plain paper copy. (It's best to trim slightly bigger than the print.)

I place the cut flowers upside down on a piece of thick craft foam and burnish with the round end of a marker. Next I burnish around the edges with the ball of an embossing tool. The finished flower will be in a bowl shape. Turn the flower over and press in the center to shape. I glued the centers of the puffy flowers to the card as shown, and added a gloss accent to the centers.

Sadly, I cannot draw or paint but I can trace and color inside the lines with glitter pens :)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

I want to show these blippie purses before packing away. I was busy making them this time last year. I used the large one (2") on my CHA summer showcase table (denim theme) next to the chocolate goodies. The leather-looking trim is also paper, cut from a greeting card. I made the small one (1.25") for inspiration and holding reminders on my desk. There are a ton of uses for these and the possible designs are endless. I hope they inspire you to dig in your drawer for a binder clip and create your own.Credit due: I was looking at Mel Stampz 150-something purse templates on her blog and found the blippie purses here (No. 59).Have fun!

Friday, May 1, 2009

March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers, thank goodness! We are still getting the winds and showers here, but I love seeing the May flowers sprouting up ever where, whether on the road during my trips to West Texas, landscaped on beautiful lawns [check out the front landscape of any Wells Fargo Bank] or on my desk in their craft stages. I enjoy creating bright colored flowers of any type-- quilled, punched, folded, they are all a beautiful gift in my mind's eye.